A variety of disclosures exist pertaining to the development of edible dog chews that are digestible and nutritious along with a texture that can be individually adjusted to suit a wide variety of a dog's preferences or needs. Attention is therefore directed to the following exemplary disclosures: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,180,161 “Heat Modifiable Edible Dog Chew; 6,159,516 “Method of Molding Edible Starch; 6,126,978 “Edible Dog Chew”; 6,110,521 “Wheat and Casein Dog Chew with Modifiable Texture”; 6,093,441 “Heat Modifiable Peanut Dog Chew”; 6,093,427 “Vegetable Based Dog Chew”; 6,086,940 “High Starch Content Dog Chew”; 6,067,941 “Animal Chew”; 6,056,991 “Turkey and Rice Dog Chew With Modifiable Texture”; 5,941,197 “Carrot Based Dog Chew”; 5,827,565 “Process for Making an Edible Dog Chew”; 5,339,771 “Animal Chew Toy Containing Animal Meal; 5,240,720 “Dog Chew with Modifiable Texture”; 5,200,212 “Dog Chew with Modifiable Texture”. Attention is also directed to U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,474 entitled “Application for Patent for Nutriceutical Toy” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,283 entitled “Animal Chew Toy of Starch Material and Degradable Ethylene Copolymer”.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,586,027 and 6,916,497 both entitled “Health Chew Toy” are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and are included herein in their entirety by reference. These patents are directed at molded, completely digestible, nutritious animal chews, enriched with vitamins, minerals and/or herb additives.
Chew products have been defined as articles which may be intended for chewing by the animal for an extended period of time to provide exercise, clean the animal's teeth and even provide nutrition. Pet treats may be distinguished from chews in that they may be intended to be chewed for a relatively short time and then digested, often offered to the animal as a reward for accomplishing a trick or task. In either case, in today's world of weight watching, even for pets, it may be important for treats and chews to be nutritious and organic as well as providing at least a portion of the daily recommended amounts of such ingredients, and even provide functional benefits to the animal. Additives may be included in such chews and treats, targeted at specific systems within the animal's body and/or the proper functioning of those systems over a given or extended time period. Of particular interest are chews and treats for pets which may be low in fat content, gluten free and relatively high in protein.
While the above certainly contributes to the body of chew products and treats available to an animal, there is nonetheless a need to improve on the above, particularly with respect to heat forming (e.g. molding) and incorporating protein products within such chew products.